North Carolina running back Javonte Williams (25) runs for a touchdown against Clemson at Kenan Stadium on Saturday, September 28. (Dakota Moyer/Chapelboro.com)

The ACC released the schedule for the upcoming 2020 football season on Wednesday, with UNC set to play six games at home, five on the road and one neutral site game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

Expectations are high for the Tar Heels in 2020, and it appears they have a tough schedule to match.

UNC opens the season in Orlando to take on UCF on Friday, Sept. 4, then heads to Atlanta to face Auburn as part of the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Series on Saturday, Sept. 12.

The first home game of the season will come in Week Three against James Madison (Sept. 19), last season’s FCS national runner-up.

ACC play kicks off for the Tar Heels the next week when they host Georgia Tech at Kenan Stadium on Sept. 26.

The month of October consists of three ACC road games against Virginia (Oct. 3), Duke (Oct. 17) and Miami (Oct. 24) with a home date against Virginia Tech (Oct. 10) sandwiched in between.

This year’s bye week will give UNC off for Halloween, before it returns to action at home against UCONN on Nov. 7–the team’s final non-conference game of the season.

Pitt comes to Chapel Hill for a game on Nov. 14, followed by the Tar Heels’ final road trip of the season to face Boston College on Nov. 21.

The regular season finale is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 27 at Kenan Stadium when UNC hosts NC State.

Head coach of UNC Football Mack Brown shared a statement with the media following the schedule release, expressing how the program prefers to avoid Friday night games despite being scheduled for two.

“We do not like playing on Friday nights because Friday night is for high school football, and we’ve always believed that. North Carolina high school football is at the top of our list when it comes to things that are important to us. We really don’t like being in a position where we could take away from the great coaches and players in our state because they’re our lifeblood and deserve to have the spotlight on Friday nights. As most know by now, the schedule is out of our control. Our TV partners dictate these types of things, so we’ll do what we’re told, but we would rather Friday night be sacred for high schools. We have requested that our TV partners and the conference make our Friday game after Thanksgiving an afternoon game to avoid going head-to-head with the high school games. Hopefully, that is something they will accommodate, because it’s important, especially on a weekend where there will be playoff games taking place.”

Game times have yet to be determined for the majority of the schedule.

 

Photo via Dakota Moyer

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